This is only a Draft….

PSYC 2200     Survey of the neural basis of behavior     Fall 2019

 

Please turn off your cell phones (or set them to vibrate) during class.  I’d suggest that you leave your computers/tablets/cell phones, etc. at home so you are better able to focus on and participate in the class.

                                                                                                              OFFICE                      OFFICE HRS

INSTRUCTOR:          Peter Brunjes   (brunjes@virginia.edu)               183 Gilmer                  MW 9-10; W 11-12            

TAs:                            Erin Kastar       (enk2us@virginia.edu)               173 Gilmer

                                   Devyn Smith    (ds9wk@virginia.edu)                 117 Gilmer                                          

TEXT: Biological Psychology  by Kelly Lambert, Oxford,  2018.        

  (use promo code OXFORD2018 to receive 20% off at www.oup.com)

Class: MWF 10-11 Gilmer 130

Discussion section: Monday 5-6 pm Gilmer 130. Highly, highly recommended, though optional.

Class Image Page:   http://faculty.virginia.edu/PSYC2200  [The site has the slides used during class. You must be on grounds or use something like UVA Anywhere (http://itc.virginia.edu/vpn/webvpn/) to view them]

THIS CLASS IS ABOUT….

Psychology is “the study of behavior”.  If we are truly going to understand behavior (what it is, where it comes from, how it might be altered) we need to understand the brain. The nervous system not only produces all behavior but also controls many of the factors affecting it (for example, hormonal systems). Therefore, understanding basic neural organization and function is essential in order to be able to understand human and animal behavior.

In the beginning of the class we will explore what the brain is and how it works. Then, using this information, we will discuss sensory and motor systems. They serve as wonderful models that we can use to apply and reinforce our knowledge of neural function. Furthermore, they are very important!  Sensory systems are the “inputs” to the brain, and motor systems are what produce behavior (the “output”).  In the final part of the class we will use our knowledge to examine current ideas of how the brain controls a number of complicated behaviors including eating, drinking, emotions, sleep, sex and learning and memory.

EXAMS: 

There will be four hourly exams and a comprehensive final exam (see schedule below). All five exams will be given in the classroom, Gilmer 130.                                                          

You are required to take any four of the exams.  You may take all five and we will drop your lowest score automatically. 

Exams are based on both lecture and text material: you will not be able to get all the points if you are not familiar with both sources.  I look at the book as a supplemental reading: it contains information that will not be covered in lectures, but that is still important for you to know. Information from occasional guest lecturers will also be tested on the exams. The tests are written in a way to examine how much you know about the information--so read them carefully and consider your responses. Unfortunately, due to the class size, exams will be multiple choice.

1. Some questions will be designed to test how much information you remember from the text and lecture.  Therefore, they will test your "factual" background.
2. Other questions will test how well you can use this information.  For example, we might reword some of the ideas discussed in class to see if you can generalize it to new situations, or we might ask you to use the concepts in a new situation or light.
3. Since the answers will be submitted on machine-graded "bubble sheets", we will use the rule that whatever answers you darken on the bubble sheets were your actual choices.  We can't grade people on their intentions.

During the course of the semester we may also have a few "pop" quizzes.  These exams might cover material in the text or the day’s lecture.  Points gained from these quizzes are simply added to your total score at the end of the class.

We can incorporate your questions into the exams!  Please feel free to send your ideas for multiple choice questions to the TA at the email address above.  We prefer questions with 5 alternative choices that are convincing alternatives…that is, that are not so blatantly obvious that it is silly to use them. Give it a try! Send in your questions today!

EXAM POLICY:

a) Because you may drop one exam there will be NO MAKEUP EXAMS. This is an absolute. There are too many people in the course to give makeups and it is unfair to those who manage to be prepared on time.

b) You are required to take the exams in the classroom unless you have made previous arrangements. 

c) We will go over each exam during the Discussion section that immediately follows it, and not during class lecture time. If you feel that a mistake has been made in the grading of your exam, you must come to these meetings in order to have us consider you request.  Many people often point out that they have other more pressing issues so they cannot make the discussion, but since the Discussion section is part of the class it should be on your schedule and take precedence. Unfortunately, the class is much too large for us to go over exams with every individual.  We will not consider changes on early exams late in the class.

d) The test booklets you receive during the exams are yours to keep. Mark them with the answers you select on the answer sheets.  After exams we will email an answer key as soon as we can. You will be able to use this then to grade your own exam and see how you did. The TA for the course is in charge of keeping the books: the easiest way to get in contact is through email.

e) For your exam-taking pleasure we have arranged to have copies of old exams on the class Collab page (look under "Resources”). You may need Adobe Acrobat to open some of the files. The exams will be your best study guides, however, realize that from time to time the textbook has changed (old ones were by Kalat or Eagleman: you will find their name all over the old tests), and each semester the topics change, so the questions may not be appropriate or in the right place.  There are no answer keys available: we look at these exams as examples to think about, not something to memorize. 

f) Don't cheat on the exams. You may not use the help of other people, notes, the book, or any other resource than what you have in your own head at the time of the exam. Exams must be turned in by the end of the exam period.

g)  The class is not graded on a 90-100 = A, 80-90 = B scale. You will not be able to calculate your average exam grade and use this scale to find your course grade! 

What we do: Final grades are calculated by:

1) adding up each person's best four exam scores

2) constructing a distribution of scores (i.e., calculating how many people got 400 total points, 399, 398...300...250... etc).

This yields a bell-shaped curve.  Grades are assigned by percentile ranking within this distribution using normative grades here at UVa as the standard.  Therefore, the cutoff for a B will be arranged so that the average grade in the course approximates that of all other courses at the University to ensure that this course is neither harder nor easier than most classes. Approximately the top 25% of the distribution will get A's.  The next 35% will get B's. Said another way, approximately 55-60% of the class receive A's and B's, or 6 out of 10 people in the class. As a result of this grading scheme, it is impossible to tell anyone what grade they have until all exams have been scored.

Grades vary by semester depending on the exams and the students.  To give you a feel for this, in the past 5 years the cutoff between A- and B+ has ranged  between a low of 335 points (an average of 83.75/exam) and a high of 368  (an average of 92/exam). The cutoff between B- and C+ ranged from 301 to 344, and the cutoff between C- and D+ from 250 to 289.

h) Don't cheat on the exams. I trust that every student will comply fully with all provisions of the UVA honor system. All alleged honor violations brought to my attention will be forwarded to the Honor Committee. Any student who is caught cheating or committing academic fraud will receive an "F" on the assignment/exam, irrespective of any subsequent action taken by the Honor Committee. The Honor Committee Support Officer for this class is unknown as of this writing.

i) What is the best way to study for this (or any other) class?   All the research shows that if you don't use information you don't remember it.  The best way to see if you understand something is to try an explain it to someone.. if you can't, you really don't understand it.  Read the text material before class.  Then, try to explain the text and lecture materials to see which areas are still unclear.

Course Evaluation:  We will use the web-based, completely anonymous course evaluation procedure.  This evaluation will occur near the end of the term.

LET'S BE POLITE!

There are a lot of people in this class!  In order that we can proceed amiably please:

--if you arrive late-take a seat quietly in the back and try not to disrupt everyone!

--if you must leave early, sit near a back exit and try to slip out undetected!

--please don’t use cell phones.

--the class is scheduled to be 50 minutes long!

--if you want to chat, do it somewhere else. Please don't make me embarrass both you and myself by asking you to be quiet during class.

--I prefer to not use a microphone (and have never used one) as it makes an even larger division between me and the audience. There are always seats available close to the front if you feel like it might help.